Conventionally, there has been proposed a brake for an elevator which grips main ropes for suspending a car of the elevator so as to brake the car when the speed of the car becomes abnormal. The conventional brake for the elevator is provided in an upper portion of a hoistway. The conventional brake for the elevator has a pair of brake shoes, which sandwich the main ropes therebetween to grip the main ropes. Gripping forces applied to the main ropes from the brake shoes are maintained by a plurality of springs (see Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1: JP 07-509212 A